Why did you take up nursing? What's your story?

Every nurse has their own story to tell about how or why they chose to enter the nursing profession. Some may have been inspired by a personal experience with healthcare, while others may have been drawn to the idea of caring for others. Some may have stumbled upon nursing by chance, while others knew from a young age that it was their calling. Whatever the reason, each nurse has a unique narrative that led them to become a caregiver. These stories are a testament to the diversity and passion within the nursing community and the profound impact that healthcare can have on our lives.

Please be as detailed or as short as you wish. It'll be interesting to hear everyone's stories.

Specializes in Acute rehab/geriatrics/cardiac rehab.

I went to college, got a B.A. in Communications Disorders, discovered I needed a Masters Degree to be a Speech Pathologist or Audiologist. Decided I wanted to go into Deaf education instead, volunteered at a couple of schools for the deaf while working as a secretary in the government with every plan to return to school to get a Masters in deaf education. I met my husband while working as a secretary in the government and got my "MRS." instead of my Masters, became a full time homemaker for about 13 years, raising our five children, looked around and realized they were about to leave the nest in a few years, told my husband nurses were "cool" and besides I'd counted 150 jobs for RNs in the newspaper that day and that I should have studied nursing. He encouraged me to go back to school. I did in 2001 and graduated in 2004 with a BSN.....have been a nurse almost a year now and most days I actually enjoy it :) Strange thing is....seems like nursing fits me just fine... Some people say its a "calling"....I'm inclined to believe that is true...... :)

At first I was gonna be a rock star and then a famous author. Neither the voice nor the words came, and I found myself a single mother at 19. Went into nursing mostly because it sounded like a good way to make money. Didn't finish but two semesters...hard to raise a baby when you're 19 and alone and go to nursing school...fast forward a number of years. The interest in what I'd learned remained. I found myself getting jealous of people I know who talked about going to nursing school. Told myself I wanted to be a nurse in theory but not in practice, and had time to think about it. Worked in an animal hospital, worked as a Medical Assistant for last five years. Husband got leukemia 3 1/2 years ago when he was 35 and I was 33 and the truth hit me that time is limited in the best of circumstances. Got him into remission and myself into nursing school. Had to repeat the 1 1/2 clinical courses I'd started which is good b/c I went from C's the first time to A- this time. I need to be able to support us someday but nursing is now WAY BEYOND the money for me. Its a passion that I realized has been brewing and stewing for years and I feel in my soul that nursing is my path in life. I am a Reiki Master, and that as well helped me find my way to nursing.

One more year of school to go and I will be what I already know I am in my heart and soul.

Specializes in ER, Oncology, MS.

Well I guess i cant ever remember wanting anything else. Except for maybe a lion tamer Oh how I loved Lions!. I was in an awful situation in my early years and was removed from there to a foster home at the age of 5 along with my 3 year old brother.He is developmentally delayed from the repeated trauma to head from being beat. I really remember very little of those first few years except for that night that children services took us away and to the hopital. They were the nicest people I had ever seen. Luckily for me I was not kept and was taken to the foster home, have been told that thy felt that I had escaped most of the phyical abuse because I wuld always go and get under the bed.Now WHY would chldren services go ito any home 11 times before removing children is beyond me but I guess thats a whole different story. Anyway, bythe time I wa 7 I wa adopted by a wonderful family andtold them from the very beginning that I was going to be Julia the black nurse( anyone remember that show?), or the flying Nun. Well I have never learned to fly and of course was never going to be able to get that Nun thing down either LOL. So I did the nurse thing, however I still cant figure out the black part either. I guess some things are just out of our control. I did my LPN my Jr/Sr year of high school, thenlater went o for my RN. Not sure how or why but know that I was given the gift of insight and just knew that this was the profession for me. I often look back ov my life and choices Ive mae and the onethat I have EVER regretted is the nursing one. I gaduated from LPN school in 1980 and have had a very rearding career. Have worked ICU, Medsurg, travel nursing, several years in surgeryand also oncology. My problem is I cant say no to a jo offer and at ties am fiding myself in 3 jobs at once. Thats RAZY! But thats a part of nursing that is so wonderful, thre are sooo many options if you truly love what you do.

Specializes in ER, Oncology, MS.
Well I guess i cant ever remember wanting anything else. Except for maybe a lion tamer Oh how I loved Lions!. I was in an awful situation in my early years and was removed from there to a foster home at the age of 5 along with my 3 year old brother.He is developmentally delayed from the repeated trauma to head from being beat. I really remember very little of those first few years except for that night that children services took us away and to the hopital. They were the nicest people I had ever seen. Luckily for me I was not kept and was taken to the foster home, have been told that thy felt that I had escaped most of the phyical abuse because I wuld always go and get under the bed.Now WHY would chldren services go ito any home 11 times before removing children is beyond me but I guess thats a whole different story. Anyway, bythe time I wa 7 I wa adopted by a wonderful family andtold them from the very beginning that I was going to be Julia the black nurse( anyone remember that show?), or the flying Nun. Well I have never learned to fly and of course was never going to be able to get that Nun thing down either LOL. So I did the nurse thing, however I still cant figure out the black part either. I guess some things are just out of our control. I did my LPN my Jr/Sr year of high school, thenlater went o for my RN. Not sure how or why but know that I was given the gift of insight and just knew that this was the profession for me. I often look back ov my life and choices Ive mae and the onethat I have EVER regretted is the nursing one. I gaduated from LPN school in 1980 and have had a very rearding career. Have worked ICU, Medsurg, travel nursing, several years in surgeryand also oncology. My problem is I cant say no to a jo offer and at ties am fiding myself in 3 jobs at once. Thats RAZY! But thats a part of nursing that is so wonderful, thre are sooo many options if you truly love what you do.

Sorry for the misspellings, I didnt look t it until after I posted it. I have a cordless keyboard and sometimes I thinkif my cffecups in the way of the reciever it misses some signals. I guess I could give up coffee! NOOOOOOOO :o

I saw an advertisement on the side of a city bus that said,

"Get your RN in 2.75 years."

I don't know why it appealed to me, but it did, so I wrote down the phone number of the school and the rest is history.

Oh, and by the way, it took me five years, but I was working full time and going to school part-time for my pre-requisites.

:uhoh21: Hi Just Wanted To Say That Being A Nurse Is Great. But I Find That In My Small Town You Can't Go Anywhere That People Aren't Asking About This And That. Everyday People Call Me For Advice. I Still Direct Them to Their Mds.

But Help When I Can . I Have Even Been Called To Help In My Church To Go Around To Peoples Homes That Are Having Problems... But I Guess I Asked For That By Becoming One.......being a nurse has also shown up in my children, both my twin girls are in a c.n.a program and going on to greater things...:uhoh21:

My oldest sister was in nursing school when she passed away . I was 6 years old and from that time on I told my parents that I wanted to be a nurse. That I wanted to be like my sister Diane.

During my nursing schooling I was the same age of my sister when she died. Needless to say my mom worried alot about me during that year . That was 20 years ago, and I love what I'm doing . :twocents:

:nurse:

I had always been the one in my family to have to deal with our cuts and bruises. I didn't mind the blood and things and everyone else either fainted or puked. It wasn't a dream of mine to be a nurse. I had been accepted at an university in their journalism program. OOOPs! Got pregnant and worked as a waitress for another 9 years. My brother's girlfriend got pregnant and she is mentalily challenged. I went with her to her first appointment and the doctor was using words like intercourse, lady parts and member. She had no clue what he was talking about so I explained it was when my brother put his "thing" inside her. She knew exactly what I was talking about and answered him. He looked at me and asked if I was a nurse. I told him no and that is when he said, "Well you should be one." I graduated with an ADN when I was 30. I loved nursing. :) I worked 4 years before I mentally lost it from childhood abuse etc.... During my recovery I was adament that I would not go back to nursing. Too much stress!. Well after 11 years of "living off others taxes" :angryfire I have reactivated my license and am going through a vocational rehab program and I will start applying at places in a week or so. I got to the point that I remembered how being a nurse made me feel and how patients and family told me what a good nurse I was. I enjoyed all the aspects of nursing but especially working with dementia patients. I was always given the worst patients because I was the only one who could get them to cooperate.

My mom brought home a box of Cherry Ames books she bought at a garage sale when I was nine or so. I read them all, and decided then and there I wanted to go to a diploma nursing school and be a nurse.

At 15 I became a Red Cross volunteer (complete with blue striped dress and cap), at 17 I became a nurses' aid in a nursing home and at 18 I went off to nursing school.

And more than 30 years later I'm still a nurse....

I had always been the one in my family to have to deal with our cuts and bruises. I didn't mind the blood and things and everyone else either fainted or puked. It wasn't a dream of mine to be a nurse. I had been accepted at an university in their journalism program. OOOPs! Got pregnant and worked as a waitress for another 9 years. My brother's girlfriend got pregnant and she is mentalily challenged. I went with her to her first appointment and the doctor was using words like intercourse, lady parts and member. She had no clue what he was talking about so I explained it was when my brother put his "thing" inside her. She knew exactly what I was talking about and answered him. He looked at me and asked if I was a nurse. I told him no and that is when he said, "Well you should be one." I graduated with an ADN when I was 30. I loved nursing. :) I worked 4 years before I mentally lost it from childhood abuse etc.... During my recovery I was adament that I would not go back to nursing. Too much stress!. Well after 11 years of "living off others taxes" :angryfire I have reactivated my license and am going through a vocational rehab program and I will start applying at places in a week or so. I got to the point that I remembered how being a nurse made me feel and how patients and family told me what a good nurse I was. I enjoyed all the aspects of nursing but especially working with dementia patients. I was always given the worst patients because I was the only one who could get them to cooperate.

Welcome back to the world of nursing. That is great.

i didn't dream of becoming a nurse growing up. i was originally a nuclear medicine major. my older sister became ill with leukemia, and fought an amazing fight. she was the strongest, bravest person i will ever know. she always said that when she recovered, she was going to go back to school to be a nurse. it will be four years next month since she passed away. she was only 30. the care from that she received from her nurses was nothing short of extraordinary. when i returned to school that fall, i switched majors, and just graduated with my bsn last weekend. i am 24 years old, and so glad that switched so young, because i know that i am going to love doing this for the rest of my life. :)

bekahlynn

that message just made me tear- and that is why i became a rn, to help and heal. my best friend had a hard life and was pregnant at 18, my first hospital experience helping her give birth and her nurse was a b@^$h, i went to college a month later starting my pre-req's determined to improve hospital visits. now being in neuro and watching a pt go from unresponsive to walking out the door hugging and thanking you- no matter how long it takes- makes every ass-wiping day worth it.

Specializes in Babies, peds, pain management.

After the night I just had, I'm not sure why I became a nurse? I might have been abducted and turned into one, too!

Seriously, last night was one of those nights, when you feel like everything but a nurse...secretary, stockboy, housekeeper, computer genuis, detective (where is that report?) and mother hen.

Back to the question: Why a nurse? I honestly don't know where it began but I was always the first aid and soothing family member. My mother wanted me to be a nurse. I thought "no way". But after 2 years in college with no real major, I decided on PT (too hard to get into), maybe OT (nah, not all that interesting to me). Then I tried nursing. I believe God must have really wanted me to be a nurse because He pulled me through my clinicals and classes (we're talking real miracle here!). I've threatened to leave many times but I really can't see me as anything else.

By the way, the first time my mother ever saw me "nursing", she was a pt on my floor (not my pt) and I was making rounds...emptying pt's trash cans. Some things never change!!! :uhoh3:

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